Biosorption is a rapid phenomenon of passive metal sequestration by the non-growing biomass. To carry out the studies of metal biosorption in a continuous system is conditioned first a reactor column, which has side ports for sampling. The reactor is packed with carrier material of biomass with a particle size between 1 and 6 mm, to avoid clogging. Both mineral medium such as air are fed through the bottom of the reactor to promote the growth of bacteria and the pH is controlled if the metal to be studied could precipitate at neutral pH. The mineral medium is inoculated with 10% biomass that develop in this medium for the time given the growth kinetics and the reactor is kept in recirculation until the development of biomass (1 g/L) and that adheres to support material. Biomass concentration was estimated by measuring the percent of transmittance to an optical density at 600 nm (Spectronic 20D+) and for the amount of biomass produced in cells/mL was determined using the Table 2 of McFarland nephelometer, described above.

When produced in the reactor is 1 g/L of biomass and this is immobilized in the zeolite, are set constant conditions of operation of the reactor as: air flow 10 times the feed flow of the contaminated medium, hydraulic retention time (HRT) of a day and ambient temperature of 30 °C. The tests are performed to set conditions of initial concentrations of metals and pH set, and takes days to the input samples at different heights of the reactor and output to meet the metal concentration, biomass is recycled to make more time contact between the bacteria and the metal being studied. It can be perform a second and third experimental run at different initial concentrations of feeding and at the same pH, maintaining the feed stream and recirculation same. Other studies may be changing the pH, keeping other conditions constant.

In the experimental runs carried out is analyzed for pH, metal concentration by atomic absorption and to determine the concentration of cells/mL of biomass, measures the percentage of transmittance in the spectronic 20D+ and compared by the technique of Nephelometer of Mc Farland. The support used is analyzed by the technique of sludge digestion, are performed analyzes of biomass produced per day and chemical oxygen demand (COD). At the end of the experiments are performed technical analyses of the medium used X-ray Diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy X-ray (EDS) at different column heights to see if deposited on the support certain amount of heavy metals or all was absorbed by the biomass.